by Stone, M. T.
“I haven’t really thought that far ahead.” I sigh, not knowing what the hell is going to happen next.
“Well, I’ve given it lots of thought. I’m going to bring Devon in here so the three of us can hash this out,” he says, heading for the door. The sternness in his voice tells me that he’s tired of the bullshit and things are going to be settled before any of us can leave the room. Luckily, when he opens the door, I can smell that our breakfast has been delivered. I’m going to need some food to be able to handle all of this.
I would love to believe what he is telling me, but at the same time, I have to remember who I’m dealing with. He’s a master of deception, and he has me in a weakened state of mind. With all of the emotions that are flooding through me, I’m beginning to feel like I’m fourteen all over again.
Chapter 20
Devon
At first, I’m a bit relieved when Victor opens the door . . . until he orders me to join them. Jared gives me a look that says he wouldn’t want to be in my shoes as I grab the food service tray and step through the doorway. One look at Victoria, and I can tell she’s been crying again. This struggle with her father is really ripping open a bunch of old wounds. “Here, try to eat something.” I coax her to take a spot on the bed and set the tray between us.
“Thanks,” she whispers. “We haven’t had breakfast yet,” she says, looking over at her father.
“I tried to call, but since both of your phones are apparently destroyed, I had no way to contact you.” He looks over at the desk. “I can’t believe these hotel rooms don’t have phones in them anymore.”
“Antonio gave us phones to use,” I tell him. “We’ll give you the numbers.”
“Let me see those phones,” he replies, holding out his hand. We both know what’s about to happen before we even give them to him. “I’ll take care of these while you two eat your breakfast.”
After a few seconds, the bathroom fan starts up and the toilet flushes. “Like father, like daughter?” I tease her before taking the last bite of quiche.
“How did you know we were here?” Victoria immediately questions him upon his return.
“Well, one of the gentlemen who overheard your conversation last night is an attorney who is on retainer with The Syndicate. He recognized you and was a bit concerned by what the two of you were discussing.” He looks directly at me. “He didn’t believe for a minute that you were a writer, by the way.” A smug expression crosses his face before he turns and paces back toward the window. “And even though you gave Peter a very generous tip, he rolled over on you as soon as I asked for your room number. You should’ve known better than to stay so close to the office. We have dozens of people on this block.”
“I should’ve said something,” Victoria sighs, rolling her eyes at me. “I was just impressed that you had gone ahead and made a reservation for us.”
“So, tell me,” Victor begins again, pacing slowly back and forth. “Antonio gave you some sort of toxin and told you that you should use it to negotiate your position within The Syndicate. Am I warm?”
“Red hot, actually,” I reply before Victoria has a chance. I know she loves her grandfather, but I’m not going to even try to lie to Victor. She may not believe it, but both of our lives are at stake here.
“So, then he told you to fake your departure on your scheduled flight and he sent you back on our cargo plane.” He pauses, looking at the two of us. “Correct?” he asks pointedly.
“Yes, sir,” I answer again.
“That means that he killed one hundred and twenty-seven innocent passengers, as well as five crew members.” He pauses, the creases intensifying in his forehead. “Just so you would believe that I would actually try to kill my own daughter. Of course you would poison me if you thought I was trying to kill you,” he adds, slapping his forehead and closing his eyes.
“It wasn’t poison,” Victoria tells him. “It’s a neurotoxin that he developed for getting the upper hand in negotiations. I have the antidote for it in my purse. It wouldn’t have killed you, but it would make you believe you had been poisoned.”
“Can I see the antidote?” he asks, pointing to her purse.
Victoria immediately shuffles through her bag, pulling out the pink vial and handing it over to him. “He said he hired a biochemist to develop it for him. He has a fully functioning lab right on the plantation.”
“Yes, Antonio has always had a fascination for this type of thing. Unfortunately, I don’t believe that the pink substance is actually an antidote.” He walks over to the door and opens it, handing both vials to one of his bodyguards. “I want you to take this immediately to the FBI office and ask for agent Scalia. Ask her to do a chemical analysis on both compounds with suspicion of TTX and Ricin. Those are two of your grandfather’s favorites,” he tells Victoria as he makes his way back.
“He said it would mimic the symptoms of TTX poisoning,” I tell him. “But he claimed it wasn’t deadly.”
“If that’s the case, then I will give him due credit.” He smiles at his daughter. “Unfortunately, I’ve known him a long time, and something tells me that he really wants both Eduardo and me dead. But as I was telling Victoria, that doesn’t make any sense. You two can’t be in both places, running two completely different businesses.” He puts his hand to his forehead and rubs his temples while pacing back and forth on the same stretch of carpet. “I also know he’ll burn the place to the ground if I turn the reins over to my son. Just so you know . . . it’s my dream to have you and Eduardo working together, you running the plantation and him The Syndicate,” he says, walking up to her and placing his hand on her cheek.
“Okay, but like you said, Grandpa won’t go for that,” she replies with an uncertain look.
“I know. So here is what I want you to do. I want you to call him on that phone that he gave you and tell him that we just had a long discussion. The neurotoxin worked as intended, and I’ll be granting you my position this weekend at our meeting.” He gives her a sneaky look, obviously knowing that one way or another, the truth behind the toxin will be flushed out. “I will appoint you as the head of The Syndicate until the day he is no longer able to run the plantation. After you gain control down there, then Eduardo will take over your role at The Syndicate. End of conflict. But please don’t share the last part with him or it will result in a giant bonfire south of Cali.”
“That actually sounds like a great plan. I’ll just need to stop at your office and sign the paperwork with you between now and Friday,” she says, smiling for the first time. “I’ll call and tell him that everything is on track. I thought maybe you had already destroyed those phones and flushed the SIM cards while you were in there.”
“No. I had to take a piss and then I left them in there with the fan running just in case he has those surveillance chips installed. I suggest you ditch them for new ones as soon as you’re done talking to him,” he says, heading back to the bathroom to retrieve them.
I have to laugh at the idea of Antonio giving us iPhones that are bugged. He must be in his seventies and he’s more technologically savvy than I am. “I’m going to have to get up to speed on all of this technology shit,” I tell Victoria, feeling like I’m at a huge disadvantage.
“We’ll just hire a couple of kids to figure it out for us,” she replies with a smirk. “They can figure things out a hell of a lot quicker than we can.”
“There’s a guy named Mikey over on 43rd who can do anything you need done to a phone,” Victor says as he hands them back to us.
That has always been the key to success. Surround yourself with the people who can get the job done. Then it hits me. If Victoria is going to be in charge of The Syndicate, she’s going to be stuck here in Manhattan. That’s a couple of hundred miles from Devon City, but I guess we’ll both be busy most of the time anyway. Fuck. I was just getting used to having her around.
Victoria
After listening to Grandpa tell me how horrible Dad is and then coming home t
o hear Dad say the same thing about him, I’ve never been more uncertain about the integrity of my family. While spending time at the plantation, I felt so close to him and Grandma. It felt like they were real people. To hear Dad claim that he blew up a plane full of people just to ensure I would go through with the poisoning is disturbing, to say the least.
“How are things?” Grandpa asks immediately upon answering.
“Much better than I expected,” I reply with a flutter in my stomach. “I didn’t even have to use the toxin,” I add, causing Dad to throw his head back in disgust. I realize that he wanted to use me to find out what Grandpa’s true intentions had been, but part of me doesn’t want to know. Sometimes, it’s better not to know all the details so you can go forward believing that you have family that you can actually care about.
“So, he’s really going to make you the head of The Syndicate?” he asks with shock in his voice. “I don’t believe it.” I can almost picture the look on Grandpa’s face right now. I’m sure it’s similar to the scowl on Dad’s.
“Yes. We’ll send you a photo of the signed paperwork later this week, and he’s going to announce it this weekend at the conference.” I give Dad a wink and a smile, knowing that this really isn’t something that he wants to do. “Everything will work out just the way you had hoped, Grandpa. I’ll be back down to see you and Grandma really soon. Tell her hello from me.”
“I will, honey.” He pauses and clears his throat. “I still can’t believe you got that stubborn bastard to change his mind.”
“Never underestimate the power of a determined woman,” I reply, still smiling at Dad. “You and Grandma take care, and I’ll see you soon.”
“Goodbye, dear.”
I hang up the call and reach for Devon’s phone. With both phones in hand, I head to the bathroom and begin beating them against the cold tile floor until they shatter into pieces. I pull both SIM cards and toss them into the toilet, flushing them to a watery grave. “That’s how you get rid of bugged phones,” I tell both men upon emerging with the mangled scraps.
“Well done,” Dad says, giving me a nod. “Now I get to go explain to Eduardo that he won’t be taking my place at The Syndicate. By the way, I don’t want him to know all the details of our plan. He’s young and tends to overstep his bounds. If he finds out that Antonio’s death will gain him the throne, he’ll head to Cali and try to take care of it himself. He got that spunk from his father, but in this case, it will get him killed.” A subtle smile crosses his face as he talks about his son. I’m sure there is a special bond between father and son, but the one between father and daughter is supposed to be even stronger.
I walk over to him and wrap my arms around him. “I’m really glad you didn’t kill Mom, and I’m also thankful that I didn’t have to use that toxin on you.” I pull back and give him a grin before kissing him on the cheek.
“Yeah, I’m anxious to see what ends up being in those two vials,” Dad replies, narrowing his eyes. “That’s exactly why I haven’t stepped foot in Colombia since the day we buried your mother. I always knew I would never make it out of there alive. Well, I might as well take an early lunch,” he adds, looking down at his watch. “I’ll have the papers ready for you to sign by Wednesday afternoon if you want to stop by around three.”
“That works for me,” I reply, giving him another kiss on the cheek. “I won’t let you down, Dad.”
“I know you won’t, sweetheart, and if you do, I’ll be there to kick your ass,” he replies with that smug smirk of his. “It will all work out for the best.” As he turns to leave, I know he’s right. Things always have a way of working out for the best.
“Why do you think he changed his mind like that?” Devon asks as soon as he’s gone.
“I have no idea,” I reply, knowing that only a fool would have a conversation in a room that Dad has just vacated. “Let’s get dressed and go talk to Mikey on 43rd about some new high-tech phones.”
“Good plan,” he replies, picking up on my vibe.
* * *
Once we are out on the street, I finally feel comfortable talking. Most people wouldn’t fathom the level of surveillance that my father uses. The fact that he was able to track us down so quickly attests to how incredibly well he has this place wired. “Quick, cross here,” I shout as I shoot the gap between a taxi and an oncoming bus.
“Jesus, you trying to get us killed?” Devon gives me wild eyes as we narrowly make it across.
“No, I just wanted to make sure we weren’t tailed out of the hotel. Now, let me tell you what I know while we’re clear. Something about this latest exchange between Grandpa and him has Dad a little freaked out. Otherwise, he never would have agreed to install me as the Director,” I explain.
“He probably knows that anyone crazy enough to blow up an airliner full of people would also be crazy enough to destroy the plantation,” he replies, hitting the nail on the head.
“Exactly!” I’m impressed to see that he is capable of thinking the same way as us. “He’s just buying time by putting me in his position. I’ll bet he’s already pricing out a hit on Grandpa. Of course, no one has ever succeeded in the past. If he does leave Colombia, though, I guarantee he won’t last a week.”
“Yeah, Miami will be a whole different story than Cali, Colombia.” Devon looks up at the street sign. “Didn’t your dad say that Mikey’s place was on 43rd?”
“Yes. That’s why we’re going to the Verizon store on 34th,” I reply, leading him in the opposite direction. “There is only one reason Dad would refer me to Mikey. So, I’m going to make sure he has zero access to my phone this time.”
“Oh, gotcha. I’m going to have to refine my level of suspicion if I’m going to survive around you guys.” The fear in his eyes causes me to laugh out loud.
“The fact that I’m an attorney doesn’t help either,” I admit, turning to head toward the Verizon sign. “Law school really helped to refine my conniving skills.”
After listening to all of the encryption features, I’m comfortable with a standard iPhone. I never realized they were so secure as long as you are making calls or using iMessage. As a final precaution, I set up the phone in my alias using the offshore credit card. I also establish a new Apple ID since Melinda Severson has never owned an Apple device. I also lock down the account so only I can access it, all modifications must be made in person, and I must present a picture ID before any changes can be made. It’s the highest level of security they offer.
Devon has no concerns that anyone has been monitoring his old account, so he inserts his Apple ID and password into the new phone and is thrilled to see everything exactly the same as on his old one. Hopefully, he’s right and no one was tracking him, but I seriously doubt it. I can’t say much, though, since I told him that if he backed up his phone, it would restore automatically. I’m going to have to go into my old iCloud account and manually retrieve my contacts. In my mind, that’s a small price to pay to ensure privacy.
Chapter 21
Victoria
The Following Sunday Evening
Feeling like we’ve been caught up in a whirlwind for the past two weeks, I step into the black Escalade and collapse onto the back seat. My head is buzzing and I honestly can’t believe that everything worked out just the way I had hoped it would. Devon slides in next to me, his musky scent temporarily taking me away from my thoughts. I reach into my purse and pull out a little surprise for him. “I have that new phone for you,” I tell him with a smile. He shakes his head, giving me a knowing look. He knows how much it has been bothering me this past week.
“And all of my contacts are on here?” he asks suspiciously.
“I rebuilt them all from scratch, and your phone number is the same except the last digit is zero instead of nine,” I tell him, knowing that was the other sticking point.
“That’ll be easy, then,” he says, reaching to turn it on.
“We’re going to leave this one behind as a decoy,” I tell him, takin
g the old one from his hand and slipping it under the rear seat of the SUV. “Somehow, Eduardo found out that you were back home this week for the kid’s burial, and I hadn’t mentioned that fact to anyone, even Dad.”
“Your paranoia will probably be what keeps us alive,” he says, leaning over and giving me a kiss. “Where are we going?”
“I’m taking you to Smith and Wollensky for a fantastic dinner, and then we’ll catch a nine o’clock flight to Devon City for our first order of business.” I sigh at the thought of telling him the news.
“Now what?” he asks, having just gotten his new SUV and starting the security work at the club.
“Now that I have access to everything, I saw how Eduardo was making inroads with the Irish Mob. He was going after Mickey Byrnes’s daughter,” I explain, but the name doesn’t ring a bell with Devon. “Mickey is the boss of Philly.”
“Okay. So what’s the issue?” he asks, not making any connections.
“The kid that was shot in your club the night before we went to Colombia was this girl’s boyfriend,” I further explain. “The kid was also the Irishman’s nephew,” I add, completing the circle.
“So Eduardo killed this guy? Or had him killed?” he asks, seeming astonished by how it’s all interrelated.
“That’s the interesting part. It seems the actual shooter was a police sniper.” I pause momentarily, letting it sink in. “He’s one of Chief Evans’s men.”
“Chief Evans was in the front row that night. You remember the fuss he was making before we even got started?” he recalls, narrowing his eyes. “That fucker has been playing me too?”
“That’s not even the biggest problem,” I admit, shaking my head. “According to Dad, the Irish mob feels like they’ve been fucked over by you, the police chief, and Eduardo. They know they don’t stand a chance in hell coming to Manhattan and going after Eduardo, but they have more than enough power to completely crush Devon City.”